M

lover-hole,an opening in a ‘louver’, Shirley, Honoria, iii. 4 (Alamode).

love,to praise, to appraise; ‘I love, as a chapman loveth his ware that he wyll sell’, Palsgrave. ME.loven: ‘lovonand bedyn as chapmen’ (Prompt. EETS. 277); OE.lofian, to praise, to value; cp. G.loben.

lovery,a ‘louver’. Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. v. 72.

loves.The phrasesfor all loves,of all loves(orlove),upon all love,for love’s sake, are all phrases indicating strong entreaty, like ourfor my sake,for his sake. ‘Speake of all loves’, Mids. Night’s D. ii. 2. 153. ‘Of all loves’ is a Derb. form of entreaty, see EDD. (s.v. Love, sb.13).

low-bell,a hand-bell used in fowling, to make the birds lie close; ‘Take a low-bell which must have a deep and hollow sound’, Gentleman’s Recreation, Fowling, 39 (Nares); ‘As timorous larks amazed are With light and with a low-bell’, St. George for England, st. 5 (written in 1688), in Percy’s Reliques (ed. Bohn, ii. 329). It is probably this kind of bell which Petruchio means when he says to Maria: ‘Peace, gentle low-bell!’, Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, i. 3.

low-men,loaded dice that produced low throws. London Prodigal, i. 1. 218.

lubric, lubrick,incontinent, wanton. Ford, Witch of Edmonton, iii. 2 (Win.); Dryden, Ode to Mrs. Killigrew, 63; B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1 (Crispinus). Med. L.lubricus, ‘impudicus, salax’ (Ducange).

lubrican,the ‘leprechaun’; in Irish folk-lore, a pigmy sprite who always carries a purse containing a shilling (NED.); ‘Your Irish lubrican’, Dekker, Honest Wh., 2nd Pt. iii. 1 (Hippolito); Drayton, Agincourt. For full particulars of this tricky little sprite, see Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland, 284. Irishlupracán(also,lughracán,lugharcán) a ‘leprechaun’ (Dinneen, p. 450). See EDD. (s.v. Leprechaun).

lucern,a lynx. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii. 3 (Hubert);lucerns(= θῶες), Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xi. 417; id., Bussy D’Ambois, iii (Bussy);luzern, Peele, Device of a Pageant. Cp. early mod. G.lüchsern, pertaining to the lynx, deriv. ofluchs, a lynx (NED.).

lug,the ear. B. Jonson, Staple of News, v. 1 (P. Canter); Return from Parnassus (last scene); hence,lugg’d, furnished with ‘lugs’ or flaps, Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. xi. 174. ‘Lug’ is very common in the north country and E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Lug, sb.21).

lug,a measure of land. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 11. In prov. use in the Midlands and south-west counties from Warwicksh. to Somerset, see EDD. (s.v. Lug, sb.35).

lug,to pull, drag about. Hamlet, iii. 4. 212; 1 Hen. IV, i. 2. 83; ‘Head-lugged bear’, King Lear, iv. 2. 42. In common colloq. use (EDD.).

lugge,a stiff bow. Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 28; ‘Vastus arcus, a lugge or mighty bigge bowe’, Cooper.

lull,pleasant soothing drink; ‘A Cup of blessed lull’, The London Chanticleers, scene 9 (Heath). Not found elsewhere.

lumber,a pawnbroking establishment; ‘Mónte de piedád, a lumber or bancke to lend money for a yeare, for those that need, without interest’, Minsheu, Span. Dict. Phr.to put to lumber, to put in pawn, ‘To put one’s Clothes to Lumbar,pignori dare’, Skinner. SeeLombard.

Luna,an alchemist’s name for silver. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Subtle). ME. ‘Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe’ (Chaucer, C. T.G.826).

lunary,moonwort, the fern calledBotrychium Lunaria. Drayton, Nymphidia, st. 50; Lyly, Endimion, ii. 3 (End.); iv. 3 (Gyptes); Sapho, iii. 3 (Ismena); B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly). ME.lunarie(Chaucer).

lune,a ‘loyn’ or thong for a hawk. Morte Arthur, leaf 104, back, 12; bk. vi, c. 16. ME.loigne(Rom. Rose, 3882). OF.loigne, a cord. Med. L.longia, ‘lorum’ (Ducange). See NED. (s.v. Loyn).

lunes,fits of frenzy, mad freaks. Winter’s Tale, ii. 2. 30. F.lune, humour, whim; ‘Il y a de la lune, he is a foolish, humorous, hare-brain’d, giddy-headed fellow’ (Cotgr.); cp. G.laune, whim, humour; fr. L.luna, the moon.

lungis,a long, slim fellow; one who is long in doing anything. Beaumont and Fl., Knight B. Pestle, ii. 3. 4; ‘Longis or a long slymme,lungurio’, Huloet; ‘Lungis, a slim slow-back, a drowsy or dreaming Fellow’, Phillips (ed. 1706). F. ‘Longis, nom propre d’un personnage légendaire, qui aurait percé de sa lance le flanc de Jésus Christ; le sens est dû à l’influence delong: Celui qui est long à faire qqch.’ (Hatzfeld). Longinus was said to have been the soldier who pierced the Lord’s side with his lance (λόγχη); his martyrdom at Caesarea in Cappadocia was commemorated March 15; see Dict. Christ Antiq. (s.v.).

lupus est in fabula,there is a wolf coming to interrupt our talk. A proverb used on the occasion of a sudden silence; from the idea that a man becomes dumb if a wolf happens to see him before the man sees the wolf. Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 322 (p. 93, col. 1); see Sir T. Browne, Vulgar Errors, bk. iii, ch. 8. The superstition is referred to by Virgil, Ecl. ix. 54. The proverb occurs in Terence, Adelphi, iv. 1. 21. See Büchmann, Geflügelte Worte (ed. 1905, p. 441).

lurch,to remain in or about a place secretly, esp. with an evil design. Merry Wives, ii. 2. 26; to be beforehand in getting something, to get hold of by stealth, Middleton, Chaste Maid, iii. 2; to deprive, rob, Coriolanus, ii. 2. 106. A north-country word (EDD.).

lurden,a term of reproach, Greene, Friar Bacon, ii. 4. Seelourdain.

lush,luxuriant, succulent. Temp. ii. 1. 52. In prov. use in Lakeland and Glouc., see EDD. (s.v. Lush, adj.1). ME.luschor slak, ‘laxus’ (Prompt.).

lusk,to lie idle, to indulge in laziness. Warner, Alb. England, bk. vi, ch. 30, st. 15. Cp. ‘lusk’, a Linc. word for an idle worthless fellow (EDD.). Henceluskye, lazy; ‘Thy luskye nest’, Drayton, The Owl, 111;luskishness, sluggishness, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 1. 35.

lustick, lustique,merry, jolly. All’s Well, ii. 3. 47; ‘Rusticke and lusticke’, Dekker, Sir T. Wyatt (Clown), ed. Dyce, p. 193. Du.lustigh, pleasant (Hexham); deriv. oflust, pleasure. See NED.

lustihead,jollity. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Oct., 51.

lustless,listless, feeble. Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 20; Gascoigne, Jocasta, iii. 4. 2. ME.lustles(Gower, C. A. ii. 2024; iv. 3455).

luxur,an incontinent man. C. Tourneur, Revenger’s Tragedy, i. 1. 9.

luxury,lasciviousness. Middleton, A Game at Chess, ii; A Mad World, iii. 2 (Mis. H.); Hamlet, i. 5. 83. ME.luxurie(Chaucer, C. T.B.925). Late L.luxuria(in Vulgate = ἀσωτία, Eph. v. 18).

luzern;seelucern.

lyam;seeliam.

lycanthropi,persons suffering fromlycanthropia, or wolf-madness. Middleton, The Changeling, iii. 3 (Franciscus); Ford, Lover’s Melancholy, iii. 3 (Corax). Gk. λυκάνθρωπος, a wer-wolf, a man who thought he was changed into a wolf, or who was thought by others to be so changed.

lyers;seeleare.

lylse-wulse,linsey-woolsey. Skelton, Why Come ye nat to Courte, 128.Lylseyis an older form of Linsey (Suffolk), where cloth was once made.Wulsefurnishes a pun on the name of Wolsey.

lym,a lyam-hound, or one held by a leash. King Lear, iii. 6. 72. Short forlyam-hound. Seeliam.

lymiter;seelimiter.

lythe;seelithe.

M,abbreviation for Master as a conventional title. Phr.to have(orcarry)an M under one’s girdle, to use a respectful prefix (Mr. or Mrs.) when addressing or mentioning a person; ‘You might carry an M under your girdle to Mr. Deputy’s worship’, B. Jonson, &c., Eastward Ho, iv. 1 (Constable); ‘Have you nere an M under your girdle’, Great Britons Honycombe (Nares); ‘You might have an M under your Girdle, Miss’, Swift, Polite Conversation; Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3. 133. [‘Ye might hae had an M under your belt for Mistress Wilson of Milnwood’, Scott, Old Mortality, xxix.]

mace-proof,proof against fear of bailiffs or mace-carrying serjeants. Shirley, Bird in a Cage, ii. 1 (Bonamico); Gamester, iii. 1 (Lord F.).

mackrel gale,a fresh gale, when mackerel are more easily caught. Dryden, Hind and Panther, iii. 456.

maculate,to stain, defile. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 26, § 8;maculated, spotted, Sir T. Browne, Vulgar Errors, bk. v, c. 29, § 9. L.maculare, to spot; frommacula, a spot.

mad(de,a maggot or grub, esp. the larva which causes a disease in sheep. Tusser, Husbandry, § 50; Best, Farming Books (Surtees Soc., 6); Worlidge, Syst. Agric. 273; an earthworm, ‘Mooles take mads’, Warner, Alb. England, ii. 9, st. 52; Holland, Pliny, ii. 361. Seemathe.

maddle-coddle,foolish. Three Lords and Three Ladies, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 391. See EDD. (s.v. Maddle).

Madrill,Madrid. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, i. 1 (Pedro); ii. 1 (Alvarez); Marvell, Appleton House. Cp. Span.Madrileño, a native or inhabitant of Madrid.

†magar,some kind of ship. Only in Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 86; p. 90, col. 2.

mage,a magician. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 3. 14. L.magus, pl.magi, ‘the Wise Men’ (Vulgate, Matt. ii. 1).

maggot-pate,a light-headed whimsical person. Beaumont and Fl., Span. Curate, iv. 5 (Milanes).

maggot-pye,a magpie. Macbeth, iii. 4. 125; ‘Gazzotto, a maggot-a-pie’, Florio. ‘Magot’ was a pet name for Margaret, see Bardsley, English Surnames, 76. F.Margot, ‘diminutif très familier de Marguerite, nom vulgaire de la pie’ (Littré). ‘Maggotty-pie’ is in prov. use in Wilts., Somerset, and Cornwall for the magpie, see EDD. (s.v. Maggot, sb.2).

magisterium,lit. mastery; a name for the ‘philosopher’s stone’. B. Jonson, Alchem. i. 1 (Subtle). See Ducange.

magnificate,to magnify; ‘A church reformed state, The which the female tongues magnificate’, Marston, Sat. ii. 42; ridiculed by Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1 (Tucca); p. 130.

magnificence,liberality of expenditure combined with good taste. Massinger, Renegado, ii. 4 (Vitelli); Duke of Milan, iii. 1 (Charles). Cp. Chaucer, C. T.I.736.

magnificent,munificent, liberal. Massinger, Emp. of the East, ii. 1 (Theodosius); Parl. of Love, iv. 1 (Dinant).

maid,a name given to the thornback and skate, when young. A Woman never vexed, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, xii. 112; Drayton, Pol. xxv. 104; Gay, Trivia, ii. 292. In prov. use in Ireland and various parts of England, see EDD.

mail,in hawking, to tie or wrap up a hawk with a girdle or kerchief, to secure her. Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, v. 4 (Captain); Fletcher and Rowley, Maid in the Mill, iii. 3 (Gerasto). See NED. (s.v. Mail, vb.32).

main,in the game of hazard, a number (from five to nine inclusive) called by the caster before the dice are thrown; 1 Hen. IV, iv. 1. 47;mains, throws at dice; Marston, What you Will, iv. 1 (Quadratus). See NED. (s.v. Main, sb.31).

mainprize,suretyship, acceptance of suretyship. Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 60; Heywood, Eng. Traveller, iv. 1 (Reignald); ‘Mainprise, the receiving a man into friendly custody, that otherwise is or might be committed to prison, upon security given for his forthcoming at a day assigned’, Cowell, Interpreter (ed. 1637). Anglo-F.maynprys(Rough List).

maiordomo,‘major-domo’, the chief officer or servant of a princely or wealthy household. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, bk. iii, c. 4 (ed. Arber, 158). Span.mayordomo, a steward (Stevens).

maistry,a competitive feat of strength or skill. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 17, § 4;masteries, Bacon, Essay 19, § 3.

make,a companion, husband, wife. Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 7; iii. 11. 2. Hencemakeless, widowed, Shak., Sonnet 9. ME.make, a mate, equal, match; a wedded companion, husband or wife (Chaucer). Still in use in these senses in Scotland, also in England in many parts from the north to Glouc. OE.gemaca.

makeless,matchless, incomparable, Mirror for Mag, Buckingham, st. 13.

make-bate,a mischief-maker, promoter of quarrels. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, ii. 573 (ed. Arber, 62);Bible, 2 Tim. iii. 3 (margin); Titus ii. 3 (margin); ‘Satan the author and sower of discord stirred up his instruments, certain Frenchmen, tittivillers and makebaits about the King’, Foxe, Bk. Martyrs (ed. Cattley, ii. 648); Heywood, A Woman Killed, iii. 2 (Nicholas). In prov. use in Devon, see EDD. (s.v. Make, vb.13).

making,a match-making, matching. Middleton, A Trick to catch, iii. 3 (Witgood).

malakatoon,a quince, a peach grafted on a quince. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, i. 2 (Romelio);malicatoon, Rowley, All’s Lost, i. 3. 15. Seemelocotone.

malander, mallander,a dry scabby eruption behind the knee in horses. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 94; B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, ii. 1 (Knockem). F.malandre; Late L.malandria, pl. pustules on the neck, esp. in horses (Vegetius).

male,a bag, wallet, pack. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 142. 2; ‘Male or wallet, to putte geare in’, Palsgrave; Tusser, Husbandry, § 102. 4. ME.male(Chaucer, C. T.A.3115). See Dict. (s.v. Mail, 2).

male-ease,indisposition, illness. Morte Arthur, leaf 169, back, 2; bk. viii, c. 41. F.malaise.

malefice,an evil deed. Spenser, Mother Hubberd, 1154. L.maleficium, evil deed.

malengin, malengine,evil contrivance, ill intent, deceit. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 53; v. 9. 5. ME.malengin: ‘The florin Was moder ferst of malengin’ (Gower, C. A. v. 345). Anglo-F.malengin, evil device (Gower, Mirour, 6544); cp.engin, device, trickery, id., 2102.

maleur,misfortune. Speltmaleheure, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 169. 1;maleure, id., lf. 244, back, 22. OF.maleur; L.malum augurium, evil destiny.

maleurous,unlucky. Speltmalewreus, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 82. 26. OF.maleuros(F.malheureux).

maleurtee,misfortune. Speltmaleheurte, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 338. 15. See NED.

male-uryd,ill-omened, unlucky. Skelton, Against the Scottes, 111. Seeure(destiny).

malgrado,‘maugre’, in despite of, to the loss of; ‘Malgrado of his honour’, Greene, Orl. Fur. v. 2 (Orlando); Marlowe, Edw. II, ii. 5. 5. Ital.malgrado, ‘in despight of’ (Florio). Cp.maugre.

malice,to regard with malice, seek to injure. Surrey. Complaint of a Lover that defied Love, 34 (in Tottell’s Misc., p. 8); North, tr. of Plutarch, Coriolanus, § 13 (in Shak. Plut., p. 23). See Nares.

malkin,an untidy female servant, a slut, slattern. Coriolanus, ii. 1. 227; Pericles, iv. 3. 34; used as a term of abuse, a lewd woman, speltmaukin, Beaumont and Fl., The Chances, iii. 1 (Landlady); Death of E. Huntington, ii. 1 (Hubert), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii. 258. ‘Malkin’ (‘Mawkin’) is in gen. prov. use in England and Scotland for a slattern, and as a term of abuse, see EDD. (s.v. Mawkin, 2). It is prop. a dimin. of the Christian nameMaud(ME.Malde), a F. equivalent ofMatilda.

mall,a club. Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 51; an iron club, id., iv. 5. 42. As vb., to beat down, id., v. 11. 8.

malleation,the test of hammering. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Face). From L.malleus, a hammer.

malleted,infixed as if by a ‘mallet’. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, iii. 649.

maltalent,ill-will. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 4. 61. ME.maltalent, ill-will, ill-humour (Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 273 and 330); Anglo-F.maltalant, ill-humour (Ch. Rol. 271).

mammer,to waver, to be undecided. Othello, iii. 3. 70; Drant, tr. Horace, 2 Sat. 3. A north-country word (EDD.). ME.mamere, ‘mutulare’ (Voc. 668. 26). See Nares.

mammet,a puppet, an odd figure, freq. used as a term of abuse. Romeo, iii. 5. 186; 1 Hen. IV, ii. 3. 95; speltmaumet, Machin, The Dumb Knight, iii. In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Mommet). ME.maumet, an idol, a false god (Chaucer, C. T.I.860); OF.mahumet, an idol, orig. Mahomet, who was supposed to be one of the false gods of the Saracens (Ch. Rol. 2590).

mammock,a scrap, shred. Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 654; to tear into shreds, Coriolanus, i. 3. 71. ‘Mammock’, a broken piece, scrap, slice of food; to cut into pieces—in prov. use (EDD.).

mammothrept,a spoiled child, weakling. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, iv. 1 (Amorphus). Gk. μαμμόθρεπτος, brought up by one’s grandmother.

man,to ‘squire’, or accompany a lady, to escort. Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 291); Fletcher, Span. Curate, iv. 7 (Amaranta).

manable,used of a girl of marriageable age. Middleton, Family of Love, iv. 4 (Gudgeon); ‘She’s manable’, Fletcher, Maid in the Mill, ii. 1 (Otrante).

manage,management, control. Richard II, iii. 3. 179; Edw. III, iii. 3. 224.

manchet,a small loaf of white bread. Drayton, Pol., Song, xvi. 229; Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, ii. 1 (Roger). In prov. use in Yorks., Lanc., and in the west country (EDD.). Norm. F.manchette, ‘pain à croûte dure, inégale, fait en forme de couronne’ (Moisy). Prob. the same word as F.manchette, a cuff (Hatzfeld).

manderer;seemaunder.

mandilion,a soldier’s cloak. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, x. 120; Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iv. 3 (Lazarillo). See Nares. Ital.mandiglione, a jacket (Florio), deriv. of Med. L.mantile, cp. Span.mantilla. See Dozy, Glossaire, 299.

mandragora,mandrake. Othello, iii. 3. 330; Ant. and Cl. i. 5. 4. Gk. μανδραγόρας.

mandrake,the plantAtropa mandragora; of a strong narcotic quality. Its root was thought to resemble the human figure, and to cause madness by its shriek or groan when torn from the ground. 2 Hen. VI, iii. 2. 310; Romeo, iv. 3. 47; a term of abuse, 2 Hen. IV, i. 2. 16; iii. 2. 342.

mandritta, mandrita,in fencing, a cut from right to left. Nabbes, Microcosmos, i. 2 (Choler); Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. xi. 56. Ital.mandritto,manritto, ‘a right handed blow’ (Florio).

maner, manner:in phr.to be taken with the maner, to be taken in the act.Bible, Num. v. 13 (ed. 1611); also, in the Geneva Bible (1562); 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 350; Winter’s Tale, iv. 3 (or 4), 755. ‘If the Defendant were taken with the mainour (or manour)’, Cowell, Interpreter (s.v. Mainour); ‘He is taken with the maynure’, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii. c. 7, § 6. Compare the Anglo-F. legal phrasepris ov mainoure, and the L.cum manuopere captus, i.e. taken with the thing stolen in one’s possession (Ducange, s.v. Manopera);mainoure, lit. hand-work, acquired the legal sense of ‘thing stolen’. Later, to be takenin the(i’th)manner, Fletcher, Rule a Wife, v. 4. 8. See Dict. (s.v. Mainour).

mangonize,to sell men or boys for slaves. B. Jonson, Poetaster, iii. 1 (Tucca). L.mangonizare, to trim up an article for sale (Pliny);mango, a dealer in slaves and wares.

manicon,the name of a narcotic, obtained from a kind of night-shade, so called from its supposed power of causing madness; ‘(Who) Bewitch hermetic men to run Stark staring mad with manicon’, Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 324. See Alphita, 176 (under Strignus manicon, and Solatrum mortale). Cp. Gk. στρύχνος μανικός (Dioscorides).

maniple,a handful, bundle. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, i. 1 (Sir Dia.); a band of men, Milton, Areopagitica (ed. Hales, 48). See Dict.

manner;seemaner.

manred,the men whom the lord could call upon in time of war; hence, a supply of fighting men; ‘Manred and retinew’, Holland, Camden’s Brit., Scot. ii. 17 (NED.); Phaer, Aeneid vii, 644 and 710 (L. orig. ‘cohors’). OE.mannrǣden, homage, service due from tenants.

manticore,a fabulous animal, compounded of a lion, porcupine, and scorpion, with a human head. Skelton, ed. Dyce, i. 118 and 124; ‘Mantichoras, monstrous beasts’, Wilkins, Miseries of inforst Marriage, v (Butler). Gk. μαντιχώρας, a corrupt reading for μαρτιχόρας in Aristotle; from a Persian word meaning ‘man-eater’. See NED.

manto,a cloak. Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 700. Ital.manto.

mantoon,a mantle. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, i. 2 (Romelio). Ital.mantone,manto, a cloak (Florio).

manurage,cultivation of land. Warner, Alb. England, bk. iii, c. 14, st. 1.

map,a mop. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, ii. 2 (Soto); ‘Map’ is a Yorks. pronunc. of ‘mop’ (EDD.).

maquerelle,a bawd, a procuress. Westward Ho, v. 3; Shirley, Triumph of Peace (Second Antimasque). F.maquerelle, ‘a (woman) bawd, the solicitrix of Lechery’ (Cotgr.).

marablane,an Oriental aromatic. Ford, Sun’s Darling, ii. 1 (Spaniard). Seemyrobalane.

marasmus,a wasting away of the body. Milton, P. L. xi. 487. Gk. μαρασμός.

marchesite;‘marcasite’; a kind of iron pyrites. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly). Ital.marchesita,marcasita, ‘a marquesit, or fire-stone, good to make mill-stones’ (Florio).

marcussotte,to cut the beard in a particular way; ‘And with a sythe doth marcussotte his bristled berd’, Golding, Metam. xiii. 766; fol. 163 (1603). F.Barbe faicte à la marquisotte, ‘Cut after the Turkish fashion; all being shaven away but the mustachoes’ (Cotgr.).

mare,the nightmare. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 83. ME.mareor nyȝhte mare, ‘epialtes’ (Prompt.). OE.mare, Icel.mara.

mare:in phr.to ride the wild mare, to play at see-saw. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 268;the two-legged mare, the gallows, Like Will to Like, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iii. 335, 345.

mare;‘the blues’, melancholy; ‘Away the mare’, Skelton, Elynour Rummyng, 110; ‘Let pass away the mare’, Calisto and Melibæa, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 57.

mare,a term in wrestling; a particular kind of grip. Drayton, Pol. i. 244. Also calledthe flying mare; see NED.

mareyse,a marsh. Morte Arthur, leaf 113. 5; bk. vi, c. 14; lf. 217. 17; bk. x, c. 1. OF.mareis; Med. L.mariscus(Ducange).

margaret, margarite,a pearl. Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 76; p. 90, col. 1; A Looking-Glasse, i. 1. 100 (Rasni). F.Marguerite, ‘Margaret (a woman’s name); also a (Margarite) pearl’ (Cotgr.). Lmargarita, Gk. μαργαρίτης, a pearl.

marge,margin, brink, border. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 8. 6. Drayton, Pol. ii. 25. F.marge.

margery-prater,a hen (Cant). Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 1 (Higgen); Harman, Caveat, p. 83.Prater= cackler.

marginal finger,an index-hand in the margin of a book (☞); used to direct attention to a striking passage. Massinger, Fatal Dowry (Romont; towards the end).

mark,a coin worth 13s.4d., or 2/3 of the £ sterling. Measure for M. iv. 3. 7; King John, ii. 530.

mark-white,white mark, centre. Phr.at the marke white, at the white mark in the centre of a target, Spenser, F. Q. v. 5. 35; cp.the white, Tam. Shrew, v. 2. 186. And seerove.

marle,to marvel, wonder. Eastward Ho, iii. 2 (Gertrude); B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, Induct. (Carlo); a marvel, B. Jonson, Silent Woman, iii. 1 (Mrs. Otter). A Devon and Somerset pronunc., see EDD. (s.v. Marl, vb.3).

marlian,a merlin, small hawk. Song in Tottel’s Misc., p. 132, l. 1. A Cornish pronunc., see EDD. (s.v. Marlin).

marling,a ‘marline’, a small tarred cord used for binding ropes. Dryden, Annus Mirab. 148. See Dict. (s.v. Marline).

marmaritin,a plant. Middleton, The Witch, iii. 3 (Hecate). L.marmaritis; Gk. μαρμαρῖτις, a plant that grows in marble quarries (Pliny).

marmoll,an enflamed sore, esp. on the leg. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 1932. Seemortmal.

marrow,a companion, partner, mate. Tusser, Husbandry, § 57, st. 40; Drayton, Muses’ Elysium, Nymphal ii, 195. In common prov. use in the north to Cheshire and Derbyshire, see EDD. (s.v. Marrow, sb.21). ME.marwe, ‘socius, sodalis, compar’ (Prompt.).

marry gip(an exclamation); ‘Marry gip, thought I, with a wanion!’, Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, ii; B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, i. 1 (Waspe); cp. the oath,By Mary Gipcy(i.e. by S. Mary of Egypt), Skelton, Garl. of Laurell, 1455.

marry gup(an exclamation);marie gup!, Lyly, Midas, v. 2 (Licio) See NED. (s.v. Marry, int., c).

marry muff,some kind of cheap textile fabric; ‘A sute of Marrymuffe’, Meeting of Gallants (NED.). Used as a derisive exclamation, Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, ii. 1 (Bellafront).

Mars,an alchemist’s name for iron. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Face).

mart:phr.letters of mart,letters of marque, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, i. 3 (Goswin); Wife for a Month, ii. 1 (Tony). See Dict. (s.v. Marque).

martagan,martagon, Turk’s-cap lily;Lilium martagon. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 2 (Aiken). F. ‘martagon de Constantinople, the Byzantine Lilly’ (Cotgr.); Ital.martagone; Turk.martagān, a kind of turban, a martagon-lily.

martel,to hammer. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 7. 42. OF.marteler, deriv. of OF.martel, a hammer.

martern,the ‘marten’, an animal of the weasel kind. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii. 3 (Hubert); Harrison, Descript. England, ii. 19 (ed. Furnivall, 310). See Dict. (s.v. Marten).

martialist,a military man. Two Noble Kinsmen, i. 2. 17.

Martlemas,Martinmas. St. Martin’s day, Nov. 11. Meat was often killed at this time to be salted for use at Christmas, Greene, George-a-Greene (ll. 439, 1001), ed. Dyce, p. 260, col. 1; p. 266, col. 1;Martilmas, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 134. 21; Tusser, § 12. 3. An E. Anglian form of Martinmas (EDD.).

mary, maree,marrow. Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, iv. 66;maree, Golding, tr. of Met. ix. 172. ME.mary(Chaucer, C. T.C.542);mary-bones, marrow-bones (id., C. T.A.380).

maryhinchco, maryhinchcho,a disease to which horses are subject; ‘She has had a string-halt, the maryhinchco’, B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, iii. 1 (Knockem). Markham explains it thus: ‘The string-halt, of some called the mary-hinchcho, is a sodaine twitching up of the horses hinder legges’ (NED.).

mash,to become enmeshed or entangled. Warner, Albion’s England, vi. 29, st. 27. See NED. (s.v. Mesh, vb.).

maship,a shorter form ofmastership, as a term of respect. Udall, Roister Doister, i. 2 (Merygreek).

mask,the ‘mesh’ of a net. Brewer, Lingua, ii. 6 (Mendacio). A Cheshire pronunc., see EDD. (s.v. Maske). ME.maske, ‘macula’ (Prompt.); OE.max, cp. Dan.maske. See NED. (s.v. Mask, sb.1).

masticot, masticote,‘massicot’, yellow protoxide of lead, used as a pigment. Peacham, Comp. Gentleman, c. 13; pp. 130, 132. F.massicot, ‘oaker [ochre] made of Ceruse, or white lead’ (Cotgr.).

mastlin,mixed corn, esp. a mixture of wheat and rye. Tusser, Husbandry, § 63. 23; ‘Metail, Messling or Masslin, Wheat and Rie mingled, sowed and used together’, Cotgrave. ME.mestlyonor mongorne, ‘mixtilio’ (Prompt. EETS. 286). ‘Meslin’ is in gen. prov. use in England and Scotland, see EDD. (s.v. Maslin, sb.1).

mastlin, maslin,a kind of brass. Brewer, Lingua, iv. 1 (Heuresis). In prov. use as an attrib.: maslin kettles, pans, pots, spoons, see EDD. (s.v. Maslin, sb.2). ME.maslin, also,mestling(NED.); OE.mæs(t)ling(B. T.).

masty,a mastiff. Middleton, A Trick to catch, i. 4 (Witgood); usedfig.of a cannon (from its noise). Shirley, Maid’s Revenge, iv. 1 (near the end). In prov. use in the north (EDD.). F.mastin, a mastive (Cotgr.); with change of suffix, cp.haughty(F.hautain).

matachin,a kind of sword-dancer in a fantastic costume; ‘They looked upon one another as if they had been Matachines’, Luna’s Pursuit (NED.); see Douce, Illustrations of Shakespeare, ii. 435, quotation in Nares. Also, the dance performed by ‘matachins’, Webster, White Devil (Flamineo), ed. Dyce, p. 48; Beaumont and Fl., Elder Brother, v. 1 (Miramont); speltmattacina, Bacon, Henry VII (ed. Lumby, p. 38). Span.matachin, ‘a sword-dancer; asdança de matachines, a dance with swords, in which they fence and strike at one another, as if they were in earnest; receiving the blows on their bucklers, and keeping time’ (Stevens). Of Arab. origin, see Dozy, 309.

matador,the slayer of the bull in a Spanish bull-fight. Dryden, Span. Friar, i. 2 (Elvira). Also, in the card-games of ombre and quadrille, a ‘killing’ or principal card, Pope, Rape of the Lock, 321, 335; Etherege, Man of Mode, ii. 1 (Medley). Span.matador, a killer; ‘At the game of Hombre on the cards, there are fourMatadores; that is, four murdering cards; so called because they win all others’ (Stevens).

matchecold,machicolated; i.e. furnished with machicolations, which are openings between the corbels that support a projecting parapet of a tower; Morte Arthur, leaf 113, back; bk. vii, c. 10 (beginning). F.maschecoulis, ‘the stones over a gate resembling a grate through which offensive things are thrown upon Pioneers and other assailants’ (Cotgr.).

matchless,of things that are not a match, or pair. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 1. 28.

mathe,a maggot. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 18. 8, § 45; Caxton, Reynard, xxviii (ed. Arber, 69). OE.maða(Voc. 205. 8). Seemad(de.

matted,dulled, deprived of lustre or gloss; ‘Oile colours matted’, Kyd, Span. Tragedy, iii. 12a (Appendix D. 116). See NED. (s.v. Mat, vb. 2).

maugre,to act in spite of, to defy. Webster, Appius, ii. 3 (App. Claudius). F.maugréer, ‘to curse, ban, blaspheme, revile extreamly’ (Cotgr.). Seemalgrado.

maukin;seemalkin.

maule,a heavy hammer. Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 70. Seemall.

maumet;seemammet.

maund,to beg (Cant). ‘One that maunds Upon the pad’ [highway], B. Jonson, Staple of News, ii. 1 (Pennyboy Canter); ‘Maunde, aske . . .hygh pad, hygh waye’, Harman, Caveat, p. 86; ‘Maund on your own pads’, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Higgen). Hence,maunder, a beggar, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Higgen). See EDD. (s.v. Maund, vb.). OF.mandier(F.mendier), to beg (Bartsch), L.mendicare.

maunder,to beg. Beaumont and Fl., Thierry, v. 1 (De Vitry); hencemaunderer: ‘a maunderer upon the pad’, a beggar on the road, Dekker and Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Teareat).

maunder,to grumble, Fletcher, Rule a Wife, iii. 1 (Margarite). In gen. prov. use in England and Scotland (EDD.).

maundie,a maundy-dole; hence, almsgiving. Herrick, Noble Numbers (The Widow’s Teares), st. 3. ME.maundee, ‘maundy’, the washing of the disciples’ feet (P. Plowman, B. xvi. 140, see note, p. 239); OF.mandé,’ lavement des pieds’ (Didot); Eccles. L.mandatum, commandment (Vulgate, John xiii. 34); ‘ablutio pedum’ (Ducange).

mauther,a young girl. B. Jonson, Alchem. iv. 4 (Kastril). Speltmoether, Tusser, Husbandry, § 17, st. 13. An E. Anglian word (EDD.).

maw,a game at cards. Rowley, All’s Lost, ii. 1. 16; Chapman, Mayday, Act v (Lodovico). See Nares.

may,a maiden. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Nov., 39; Greene, Description of the Shepherd, l. 57; ed. Dyce, p. 305. Of frequent occurrence in Scottish Ballads, see EDD. (s.v. May, sb.2). ME.mai(Cursor M. 3238); OE.mǣg, a kinswoman, a maiden.

May-game,a mirthful spectacle (metaphorically). Ford, Lover’s Melancholy, i. 2. 10. ‘May games’ were the dancings and merry-makings round the May-pole, after the gathering of the May. See Stubbes, Anatomy of Abuses (ed. Furnivall, pp. 149, 305); Herrick’s Hesperides (Corinna’s going a-Maying), &c.

May-lord,a young man chosen to preside over May-day festivities. Beaumont and Fl., Women Pleased, iv. 1 (Soto); Knight of the B. Pestle, iv. 5.

mayneal;seemenial.

maynure;seemaner.

mazard, mazzard,the head. Hamlet, v. 1. 97; Othello, ii. 3. 155. Speltmazer, Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, iv. 2 (Fustigo). Afig.use ofmazer, a bowl. See Dict., and Notes on Eng. Etym., p. 183.

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